5 ways to improve your fantasy football roster

5 Ways to Improve Your Fantasy Football Roster

Your draft is done and the season is about to start. You like your Fantasy Football team, but you don’t love it. You’re happy with your Quarterbacks and Wide Receivers, but your Running Backs and Tight Ends could use some work. Here are five ways to improve your roster throughout the season.

1.   Check the Transactions Page EVERYDAY

Seems obvious, but whether they don’t care or don’t have the time, many fantasy owners do not do this. Another owners’ trash could be your treasure. Every league has waiver period length, some are three days, two is the norm, and some have only one day waiver period. You need to know who gets dropped. It could be a player you coveted during the draft at a position you deem to be a weakness. Even paying attention to who gets added could help you determine if that player has value to you in your other leagues. Lastly, trades show up on the transactions page and you want to be able to veto a trade if you deem it unfair. It’s also good to remember what teams in your league are open to trading.

2.   Know Where Your Waiver Claim Order

Waiver claim order works in one of two ways. It either resets weekly based off of record (like the NFL) or the more commonly used ‘continual rolling list’ which means if you win a claim you go to the back of the line. The goal should be to move as close to the front of the line as possible. You want to be selective in who you put a claim in for. You SHOULD NOT waste a claim on a Kicker or a D/ST. Don’t put in a claim just because you have a spot to fill. Make sure it’s a player you feel strongly about. The reason to be stingy with your waiver claims is that inevitably somebody who has no business getting dropped gets dropped. For example, the season hasn’t started yet and I’ve already seen Titans RB Derrick Henry and Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery get dropped in different leagues. Those guys are definitely better than the last guy on any bench.

3.   Be Proactive in Trade Discussions

Many fantasy owners are afraid to trade for fear of getting ripped off, and there’s no doubt some offers are by someone trying to fleece you. But it’s important to look at each offer objectively. Even if you don’t like the trade offer or any of the players involved, you should still consider making a counter-proposal. The owner is clearly open to the idea of trades. Perhaps they have a strength where you have a weakness and vice versa. In every league I do, I try to make at least one trade offer a week. It doesn’t hurt to try to upgrade your team. Lastly, don’t be shy about posting on your league’s message board about what you need and/or what you’re willing to trade away, you’ll be able to create a dialogue with multiple teams that way.

4.   Use Your IR Slot, and Use it Properly

Most leagues nowadays have an IR spot available. This allows you to put a key player who has already been ruled out for the following week or weeks in the designated IR slot and replace them with a free agent. If, for example, you have Bengals WR AJ Green (expected to miss up to a month or more), using the IR slot on him is an easy call. Most often, the player in that slot will depend on the health of your roster. Sometimes a player is ruled out mid-week, sometimes not until 90 minutes before kick-off. Either way, you want to scour the free-agent market and target the player you’d like to potentially replace your injured player with (which if it’s an RB, could be the handcuff to your starter). You can add this person without dropping someone off your bench. Which leads me to…

5.   Stream Your Kicker Week to Week if Necessary

If you want to ensure a free agent makes it to your roster, but the status of your player is undetermined and you don’t want to drop a significant member of your bench, you can add the FA by dropping your kicker (or D/ST, if they are more expendable to you). Before kickoff, you can put your questionable player on IR if he’s been made inactive. If he remains active, you can cut your newest addition for a kicker (and much of the time, you’ll be able to get the same kicker back as long as he’s still not on waivers). If your IR spot remains open, you can always add a free agent that has been ruled out due to injury. There is always a handful every week, and it doesn’t hurt to stash someone for the week. No point in wasting an open spot.

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